Bottom margin indicating mechanism for typewriters



12, 1952 P. J. LINSKEY 2,606,642

BOTTOM MARGIN INDICATING MECHANISM FOR TYPEWRITERS Filed Sept. 22, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 INVENTOR PHILIP J. Ll NSKEY ATTORNEYS P. J. LINSKEY Aug. 12, 1952 BOTTOM MARGIN INDICATING MECHANISM FOR TYPEWRITERS Filed Sept. 22, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHE! 2 I INVENTOR PHILIP J. LINSKEY ATTORNEYS Parental Aug. 12,, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BOTTOM MARGIN INDICATING MECHANISM FOR TYPEWRITERS- Philip J. Linskey, Coral Gables; Fla.

Application September 22, 1949, Serial No. 117,119

' (c1. let- 141) 2 Claims.

The present invention relates to typewriters, but more particularly to margin spacing devices. Most typewriters have some form of structure for preventing the typed lines from running too close to the Side edge of the paper. This structure usually includes a-yieldable bell ringing lever and a positive stop which are successively operated by a fingerattaohed to the platen carriage. In case it is desired to type closer to the side margin than would normally be permitted by the marginstop, a special margin stop lever is provided adjacent the key-board which, when depressed,'release's the margin stop and permits the platen to move past the predeterminedstopping point. 1

In case a margin of desiredwidth must be maintained at the bottom o fthe sheet, it is customary for the typist to'Watch I'Or the numbered lines on the sheet and estimate when the last permissible typed line has been reached. This estimate is sometimes facilitated by the use of a drum on the platen which shows the number of revolutions madeby the platen, and therefore the number of linest'yped, in order to ascertain the proper margin.

The primary object of the invention is to provide an improved bottom margin stop for typewriters which is easy to install and positive in operation. g

Another object is to provide a bottom margin stop which requiresminimum mechanisnnand preferably utilizes some of the elements which have already been provided to give a side margin stop.

A further object is to provide a bottom margin stop which can be rendered inoperative at will by the typist, either before or after giving a bell ringing warning that the margin line is about to be reached.

Another object is to provide a bottom margin stop in which a bell ring is automatically caused when the last permissible line is about to be reached, and then continued movement of the platen will cause a positive lock to come into operation which, however, can be released by the typist in order to permit finishing up the last line. 9

Another object is to provide a bottom margin stop which can be released at any time, but furnishes an indication to the typist every time a line is typed below thepredetermined margin.

The final object is to provide a combined bottom margin indicating and stop mechanism of a relatively inexpensive type, which employs as much as possible, some of the standard accessories found on the ordinary typewriter and in 2 which the usual. function of these accessories is in no way disturbed or altered, and yet such accessories operate in combination with additional devices to provide a bottom margin stop as well as serving as a side margin indicator and stop.

The above objects are carried out in brief by providing a pair of spring urged levers or fingers attached to the platen carriage and positioned in juxtaposed relation, but adapted to be spread apart by the thickness of the sheet or sheets being typed. One finger or lever is caused to be operated by the other finger when the paper sheet passes entirely past the position where the fingers come into contact with one another, and the finger which is so actuated, has a bell crank extension which is moved into the path of the usual margin indicating and stop devices. Thus, the first-mentioned finger is held in check by the paper so that when the lower edge of the paper passes the position of the point of contact between the fingers, indicating that the margin for the last line of typing has been reached, the second finger is caused to mov outwardly to contact the indicating and stop devices. 7 The latter can be removed from the path of the finger by the usual margin release, so that additional lines can be typed beyond the predetermined margin, the same as in the case of the side margin release.

Other objects and features will be apparent as the specification is perused in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 represents a fragmentary perspective view of a typical typewriter provided with the improved bottom margin indicating and stop mechanism.

Figure 2 is also a perspective view in fragmentary form of the improved typewriter, taken from the front right-hand corner thereof, and with the platen removed from the carriage in order more clearly to show the bottom margin indicating and stop devices.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the ordinary arcuate form of paper guide, the latter being provided with one of the extensions or fingers which initiates the indicating and stop mechanism.

Figure fl is a sectional view, partly in elevation, of the platen and the bottom margin indieating and stop mechanism, showing the manner in which the actuating lever or finger moves from a position which is out of the path of the indieating and stop mechanism, into the path thereof, when the predetermined bottom margin has been reached. 3

Figure 5 represents an enlarged perspective view of a detail of the mechanism, specifically showing the spring by which a constant urge is applied to each of the two actuating levers forming part of the margin stop mechanism.

Referring more particularly to Figures 1 and 2, reference character I designates a wooden base on which the typewriter is mounted at the circular pads 2. The typewriter frame indicated at 3 has a generally rectangular configuration, and is provided with the usual top member 4 and typing elements 5, together with the usual keyboard (not shown). The platen 6 is carried on the usual type of carriage indicated generally at I, this carriage and its platen being adapted to move transversely of the machine when the keys are struck or the spacer (not shown) is operated,

The platen carriage is provided with the usual paper release lever 8 which controls the pressure of the rolls 9 mounted on a swingable frame I0. There is also the usual hand-operated line spacing lever I, and a pair of levers mounted at opposite ends of the carriage for releasing the mechanism, which correlates the longitudinal movement of the carriage with the keys, so that the carriage and platen can be moved quickly back to its initial starting position. One of these levers is illustrated in Figure 1 and indicated at I2.

In addition to the above elements, the platen carriage is provided with the usual slide'bar I3 which carries a pair of margin slide blocks I 4, one of which, the left-hand one as shown in Figure 1, has a downwardly extending rod I5. This rod is permanently positioned in the path of a side margin bell lever I 6 which it strikes as the platen moves from left to right (as seen in Figure l) to sound a bell. Thelever I6 is adapted to swing in a horizontal direction, and upon continued movement of the rod I5 as the typing proceeds along the same line, the lever withdraws itself from the path of the rod and the latter then travels a little farther to strike the yieldable stop lever II. This last-mentioned lever is provided with a hook which, upon moving in a horizontal direction, serves eventually to hold the rod I5 fast and thus stopv further movement of the platen carriage.

The levers I6 and H are carried on a horizontal arm which, by means of interconnecting levers, can be operated by the usual margin release key (not shown) forming part of the key-board, so that when this key is depressed, the levers I6, I1 are caused to move downwardly and entirely out of the path of the rod I5. Thus, the typist can, by depressing this key, permit the rod I5 to proceed past the position of the margin stop levers and therefore permit typin beyond the predetermined margin in the usual manner.

It is the purpose of the present invention to provide as equally effective a margin stop for the bottom of the page, as has heretofore been provided for the side edges of the page,and preferably, to employ as far as possible, some of the parts of the usual margin indicating and stop devices that have heretofore been provided on standard machines, so as not to unduly complicate the typewriter by considerable additional mechanism. Referring more particularly to Figures 3, 4 and 5, reference character I8 designates the usual arcuate paper guide, the ends of which are secured to bridge elements I9 havin oppositely disposed slots for securement to the platen carriage. At about midway of this element, there is a slot 2| extending over a limited portion of the guide, and a rod or pintle 22 spans the sides of the slot at the uppermost edge thereof. A strip of metal 23, slightly arcuate in form, is hinged in any suitable manner to the pintle 22 as indicated in Figure 5, this finger being provided with a pair of bearing surfaces 24, between which there is a torsional spring 25 surrounding the pintle rod 22. The spring is provided with legs 26, one of which is secured to the outer surface of the guide member I8, and the other secured to the outer surface of the finger 23. The arrangement is such that the spring 25 exercises a continuous urge on the finger to force it outwardly (as seen in Figure 4), but as explained hereinafter, this finger or lever is kept in restraint by the paper as it is being fed about the platen. The paper is illustrated at 27, and is fed around the platen 3 in clockwise direction, as indicated by the arrows, and as 1ong as there is paper passing the lowermost. edge 28 of the finger or lever 23, the latter is held against the platen 6. But as the paper proceeds together with the platen in a clockwise direction, and finally the edg 29 of the paper moves past the lower edge 28 of the lever, the latter is permitted to swing outwardly due to the removal of restraint of the paper and the urge of the spring 25.

On the opposite side of the paper from the lever 23, there is a second lever or, finger pivoted at 3| to any suitable support 32 on the platen carriage. This lever takes the general form of a bellcrank having legs of unequal lengths, and the shorter leg 33 extending downwardly from the pivot point 3| to a position slightly below the end 28 of the lever 23. The longer leg 34 of the lever extends away from the platen, and preferably takes a curvilinear shape terminating at a position when not operated, which would carry it inside of the path containing the margin bell lever I6 and the margin stop lever. I1. The hinge or pivot 3| preferably takes the form of a rod similar to the element 22 (Figure 5) which is spaced from, but secured to theinside surface of the well member 35 which surrounds the lower portion of the platen. As usual, this well member is formed integrally with a back-rest 36 as shown in Figure 2. The member 35 is provided with an opening 3'! about mid-way of the length of the machine, this opening being sufficiently large to expose the short leg 33 of the bell-crank lever, A torsional spring, similar to element 25 (shown in Figure 5), is provided around the rod 3| on which the bell-crank lever is pivoted, this sprin serving to cause the short leg 33 to move upwardly, i. e., in a clockwise direction (as seen in Figure 4), through the opening 31. This spring therefore urges the short leg 33 to move inwardly against the paper. However, the torsional spring 25 which tends to press the'lever 23 outwardly, is capable of overpowering the torsional spring which surrounds the rod 3| and therefore is adapted to move the leg 33 counter-clockwise about its pivotwhen the restraining elfect of the paper 21 is removed from the lever 23.

Operation As explained hereinbefore, the margin belllever I6, and the margin yieldable stop lever I'I (Figure 4), are the usual accessories found on standard typewriters. The long leg 34 of the bell-crank lever is caused 'to pass on the inside of. these two levers I6, H, as the platen is moved during the typing operation, and when the predetermined lower margin has not been reached at the typing position. It will be understood that the levers 23, 33 are so positioned with respect to the platen, that when the bottom margin line has been reached at the typing position, the edge 29 of the paper will have just passed the lower edge 28 of the lever 23, moving downwardly as indicated by the arrows. When this condition has arrived, the restraint on lever 23 exerted by the paper, is automatically removed so that the lever is permitted to move outwardly and to strike the short leg 33 "of the bell-crank lever. This action causes the long arm 34 of the bellcrank to move from aposition which would normally permit it-to pass the levers l6, I! as. the platen is indexed across the machine into a path as will strike these two levers successively. Thus, the typist is forewarned by the bell ringing lever l5, thatthe .permissible bottom margin line has been reached, and as the platen moves still further across the machine by operating the type, the platen is eventually brought to a full stop. However, in order to finish up the line, since it will be understood that the lever ll takes effect when the platen has moved approximately halfway across the line to be typed, the typist can operate the margin release key to cause the lever I! to be depressed in the usual manner, which would then permit the platen to proceed. The same thing happens on the next line, which may be one line lower than the permissible bottom margin, in that the typist in order to finish up the line, must again depress the margin release key so that at each line from the permissible margin on, she becomes conscious of the fact that the bottom margin has not only been reached, but also passed.

0n the return trip of the platen at the end of each line, and still assuming that the lever 34 is in its outward position, and therefore normally contacts with the levers l6, H, the lever 34 will normally ride over the margin levels I5, I! and will meet no obstruction while the platen is being returned to typing position. It will be understood that the upper surfaces of the levers. I5, ii are so shaped as to force the lever 34 upwardly against its spring when the last-mentioned lever moves over the margin levers l6, 11.

While I have shown and described the position of the levers 23, 33 and 34 as being located approximately mid-way of the length of the platen carriage, it will be understood that if desired, these levers may be placed at any position along the length of the carriage and at either end thereof. However, I have found that under practical conditions, the mid-position'forthese levers is preferred, since the function of the im-' proved mechanism is to apprise the typist that the bottom margin line has been reached, and this can be done quite as well at the middle of the line, as at either end.

From the foregoing, it is evident that I have disclosed a standard typewriter machine provided with an easily installed mechanism for giving the same indication, bell-ringing and stop functions in the case of the permissible bottom margin line, as heretofore has been provided in the case of the permissible side margin. The accessories for producing this added function can be readily applied to existing machines, since the levers 23, 33 and 34 are of an inexpensive and simple type, the only complicated mechanism being that already provided in the standard machines, namely, the margin bell lever l6 and the yieldable stop lever 17.

It will be understood that various modifications and arrangements in structure could be made without departing from the spirit of my invention and, accordingly, I desire to comprehend such; modifications and substitutions of equivalents as may be considered to come within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a typewriter having a platen carriage, a side margin bell lever and a yieldable side margin stop lever controlling the locking of the keys of the typewriter, an arcuate paper guide secured to the platen carriage, mechanism comprising a lever swingably mounted on said guide and urged to move outwardly except when restrained by the paper wrapped around the platen, a bell crank lever having one leg pivoted so as to swing inwardly against the paper in the region of the first mentioned lever, a sheet of paper being typed when interposed between the first men tioned lever and the said leg of the bell crank serving to hold the first lever against the platen,

' the other leg of the bell crank being positioned so as to swing into the path of the side margin bell lever and the yieldable side margin stop lever when the lower edge of the paper moves past the first mentioned lever and by successive engagement with said levers to give a bell warning that the lowest permissible line of typing has been reached, and later to lock the keys as the platen carriage continues to move transversely of the typewriter. I

2. In a typewriter having a platen carriage, a side margin bell lever and a yieldable side margin stop lever controlling the locking of the keys of the typewriter, an arcuate paper guide secured to the platen carriage, mechanism comprising a lever swingably mounted on said guide and urged to move outwardly except when restrained by the paper wrapped around the platen, a bell crank lever having one leg pivoted so as to swing inwardly against the paper in the region of the first mentioned lever, a sheet of paper being typed when interposed between the first mentioned lever and the said leg of the bell crank serving to hold the first lever against the platen, the other leg of the bell crank being positioned so as to swing into the path of the side margin bell lever and the yieldable side margin stop lever when the lower edge of the paper moves past the first mentioned lever and by successive engagement with said levers to give a bell warning that the lowest permissible line of typing has been reached, and later to lock the keys as the platen carriage continues to move transversely of the typewriter, and means for moving the side margin bell lever and the yieldable side margin stop lever out of the path of said other leg of the bell crank in order to prevent the operation of the bell and the locking of the keys whereby additional lines can be typed on the paper.

PHILIP J. LINSKEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

